North Carolina-based Albemarle Corporation announced its intention to make strategic investments in China to support the expansion of its lithium conversion capacity.
- The company signed investment agreements with the Yangtze River International Chemical Industrial Park in Jiangsu province and the Pengshan Economic Development Park in Sichuan Province.
- With these deals, Albemarle would be pushing forward with its design, engineering and allowing plans to construct a conversion plant at each site. Every site has a planned production capacity targeting 50,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide per year.
- The company expects these plants to commence construction during 2022 and complete construction by the close of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals and other feasibility studies.
- Jac Fourie, Chief Capital Projects Officer, stated that they were excited to work with local teams in China to produce Albemarle’s next-generation lithium hydroxide plants.
The investments are seen as a critical step in its Capital Excellence Program with potential advantages of speed to market, reduced capital intensity, lower product costs, and enhanced sustainability.
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Source: PR Newswire